Catholic school closes, then opens, its gates to a boy named Hell

[Madspirit]

(Don't yell at me. I wasn't sure where this belongs. It is topical and we do post religious news outside of the "Religion" forum. Also, I thought it might be an amusing break from the Sheehan/Pelosi threads. If it does not belong here, I apologize...Lee)


Catholic school closes, then opens, its gates to a boy named Hell

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- The Hell family says it may tell a
Catholic school in Australia where to go after it objected to
enrolling their son because of his name.

Officials said the boy had been offered a place at the St. Peter the
Apostle school in the southern city of Melbourne after discussions
among the principal, the parish priest and the family over his name.

But Alex Hell, 45, said he would rather send 5-year-old Max elsewhere
because the school balked at taking the boy over his family name.
Hell said he had Austrian heritage and that the name means "bright."

Hell, a Roman Catholic father of three, said he and his wife
initially offered to enroll Max using his mother's maiden name,
Wembridge, but later withdrew the idea because "it just didn't sit
right."

When the family refused to change the boy's name, the school withdrew
its offer of enrollment, and only backed down when Hell took his
story to the media.

"I'm disappointed," Hell said Tuesday. "It's 2007, not 1407. I don't
understand it, it's just a name."

Hell said the family was considering moving to his wife's hometown to
find a different school.

Director of Catholic Education in Victoria state, Stephen Elder, said
using the boy's mother's name was the parents' idea to "assist the
child in the transition of schools."

"After discussions between the parish priest and principal, St. Peter
the Apostle School has made an offer of enrollment to the student,"
Elder said in a statement. "The school is working with the family in
the best interests of the child."